Vision
- The vision of a company is a ‘realistic daydream’.
- There is a future goal in mind, but it is not yet known exactly how it can be achieved.
- Herein lies the challenge that inspires.
- The vision provides clarity regarding the desired destination not only to employees but also to customers and suppliers.
1. What exactly is a vision?
- An organization’s vision is the image of the dreamed future, a kind of vision.
- That vision defines where the company is headed, the destination.
- It briefly describes where the organization will be in 3 to 5 years.
2. Why is a vision needed?
- Studies show a positive effect of a vision on a company.
- Employees feel stronger and more satisfied in an organization with a clear vision.
- There also appears to be a relationship between a sound vision and the financial operating result.
3. How does one formulate a vision?
- The vision must be useful in determining the strategy and must be easy to communicate to stakeholders.
- So use short and clear descriptions.
- Describe in the present tense what the future looks like.
- Include both measurable and non-measurable elements in the vision.
4. How do you convey the vision?
- Employees need to know where the organization is heading.
- There is no best way to communicate the vision.
- It depends on, for example, the size of the company or the extent to which things change for a particular department.
- Choose the medium and the message that best reaches every stakeholder.
Mission
- A mission defines the raison d’être of the company and answers the question: ‘Why do we do what we do?’
- A mission is timeless, yet applicable to a concrete moment.
- A clear mission motivates, provides focus, and connects the people in the organization.
1. Criteria
- A good mission or mission statement must be concise and link to the organization’s objectives.
- The goals the company wants to achieve in the future are outlined in the mission.
- Finally, it can be indicated which stakeholders (customers, employees, or other interested parties) the company targets.
2. Avoid empty phrases
- Terms such as ‘maximum shareholder value’, ‘satisfied employees’, or ‘best in the sector’ are insufficiently measurable.
- These are missions that people shrug off.
- Ensure a concrete and appealing mission.
3. Establish a connection with the outside world
- The company’s right to exist lies in the outside world.
- Clearly state in the mission what the company wants to mean to the outside world and how.
4. Ensure motivation
- A good mission indicates why the company carries out its activities.
- It is not sufficient to merely state what the company does.
- Explain the reasoning.
5. Keep it short and memorable
- Employees, customers, and other stakeholders must be able to easily remember the mission.
- A letter of more than one A4 page is therefore strictly forbidden.
- A mission consists not of details, but of broad outlines.
- Short and sweet is the motto.
6. Avoid jargon and abbreviations
- Don’t assume that everyone understands all the abbreviations and jargon that are second nature to you.
- Ensure that the mission can be explained in plain Dutch.
Strategy
- A company’s strategy describes how the images and goals set out in the vision will be achieved.
- Long-term strategic decisions thus form the starting point for short-term partial decisions.
- A common timeframe for strategic decisions in the business world is between 5 and 10 years.
- Strategy comes from the Greek Strategos and means: Defeating the enemy through the effective use of one’s own resources.
- By establishing a strategy, the company is managed in a goal-oriented and market-oriented manner.
- The process for successfully implementing a business strategy in your company consists of 5 steps.
1. Develop the strategy
- First of all, the vision, mission, and values of a company must be formulated.
- This sets out what the future of the company looks like.
- The strategy is determined based on that.
2. Translate the strategy
- The strategy must then be translated into objectives and metrics.
- Use the SWOT analysis, in which the company’s opportunities and threats are compared with its strengths and weaknesses.
- This analysis provides the organization with action options upon which you can focus your strategy.
3. Establishing the strategic course
- Determine the strategic direction of the company based on information from steps 1 and 2.
- Determine the direction in which the company should develop, plan innovations, and conduct a feasibility study.
- The strategic direction must be aligned with the formulated vision, mission, and strategic objectives.
4. Plan at operational level
- In this step, the strategic direction is translated into operational plans.
- Document the SMART activities here in the areas of marketing mix, production or creation, finance, personnel, and information.
- Financial and capacity budgets must also be drawn up.
5. Monitor, test and adjust the strategy
- Once the strategy has been implemented, performance must be monitored.
- To remain competitive, the strategy must be evaluated from time to time and adjusted where necessary.
- If it proves necessary, a new strategy must be determined.
Core values
- These are deeply rooted beliefs that indicate which qualities people find important.
- Core values indicate what is of essential importance and what is not.
- They are timeless principles that mark the boundary between what is good and what is bad.
- Core values guide choices and actions.
- Answer the question of how one will behave when pursuing a higher and daring goal.
- Core values require no external justification.
- They have intrinsic value for those working in the organization.
- They are independent of the prevailing zeitgeist, economic cycles, or competitive issues.
- They indicate what people in an organization want to adhere to, whether things are going well or badly.
1. Three Types of Core Values:
- the existing values
(values that are embedded in the current culture and that the organization wishes to preserve);
- the desirable values
(values that are not yet present in the current culture, but which the organization believes, given the higher and bold goal, must unquestionably become part of the future organizational culture);
- the required core values
(‘licence to operate values’: values that are typical of the relevant industry and that, as it were, enable its existence).
- The sum of these three mentioned types may not exceed six core values.
- How should the core values be formulated?
2. Parties involved
- What core values do the stakeholders have?
- What do they find important in life and at work?
- What does one want to hold on to at all times, even if one is not rewarded for it?
- What are the core values of a group?
- In what way are these disseminated?
3. Investigate
- Check if a previously conducted analysis of organizational identity characteristics exists.
- Ask questions about behavior within the organization, from which core values can be derived.
- Just as with discovering the higher purpose, constantly ask the “why” question.
- Ask the question which values would be adopted in a new organization to be established.
4. Determination
- Once the higher purpose has been formulated, consider which values might be important to realize this goal?
- Which principles does one wish to adhere to at all costs, given the higher purpose?
- First create a longlist of possible values.
- Next, make choices until about 3–6 core values remain.
- Apply the AMORE criteria when making those choices:
1. What are the ambitions, or what should they be?
2. What motivates, or what should motivate?
3. In what is the distinction made, or in what should a distinction be made?
4. What does this mean for the stakeholders, or what should that mean for the stakeholders?
5. To what extent is what is formulated above realistic?
- Make your own assessment of the type of core values that have been selected: are they existing, desirable, or required values?
- Once the core values have been put on paper, it is useful to translate them into more concrete behavioral principles.
- The aim is to briefly and concisely indicate the behaviors appropriate to each core value.
